Texas Players Discuss OU at Press Conference

NORMAN, Okla. -- Texas players met with the media at the weekly football press conference in Austin on Monday afternoon to discuss the upcoming game against OU.

Oklahoma will hold its weekly press conference on Tuesday at noon. OU head coach Bob Stoops and players will meet with the media. Full quotes will be provided online at SoonerSports.com. Coach Stoops will be webcast live on the O-Zone.

Oklahoma and Texas meet for the 100th time at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on Saturday. The game will kick shortly after noon and will be televised by ABC.

TEXAS JUNIOR CB AARON ROSS
On his punt return for a touchdown against Missouri:
The blocking up front was good. Tarell (Brown) and (Michael) Huff did their jobs, and the punter gave me a good kick. I had 20 yards in front of me to make a decision. As soon as I caught the ball I looked down and the hole just opened up like the Red Sea. All I had to do was hit the hole and beat the punter. It was pretty much to the house after that.

Texas Coach Quotes | Sooner Gameday Central - Texas | Notes

On the importance of special teams against Oklahoma:
I go into every game thinking special teams are a big part of the game. On punt returning, Coach Akina and Coach Brown have talked to me to get my confidence and assure me that I have the ability and speed to get the job done.

On the excitement surrounding this week:
Every week is an exciting week, but OU week is another level. OU is a great team. They come to play us every year. This week is going to be exciting.

On if this game has lost some luster now that Oklahoma has dropped out of the top 25:
No, I don't think so. They're going to come to play. OU is a great team. They'll wake up for this one.

On what the team needs to do differently to win this game:
Basically we just have to finish. Everybody has to do their own job. We have athletes. They have athletes. We just have to be the better team on that day.

On the rivalry and the familiarity both teams have with each other:
This game is very competitive. Something like 44 of their players are from Texas, so we have played against them and played with them. It's like a brother and brother relationship. Right now they have the upper hand by winning those games, but we'll try to come back this year and get it back.

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TEXAS JUNIOR OT JUSTIN BLALOCK
On the team being more confident going into the Oklahoma game than the previous years:
You can say that. Obviously we have been performing well, pretty much all facets of the offense certainly and the team as well. We had some question marks and some guys have stepped up and preformed very well. We have full confidence in all of our abilities.

On the excitement of all the events surrounding the Red River Rivalry:
It's probably one of the most fun times of the year. Obviously the game is quite an experience all on its own. All the events leading up to it are a lot of fun as well. Throughout the week, during school, there are a lot of activities and stuff like that. It's a lot of pomp and circumstance, but it's all worthwhile.

On moving the game from Dallas:
It's home for me being from Dallas. Even if they did change something, I probably wouldn't be around. I'm kind of impartial.

On the tradition and history surrounding the game in Dallas:
Looking up and seeing half crimson and half orange, there is really nothing quite like it. Every year I do hear from my parents that they need to do something about the seats.

On being from the Dallas area and feeling the pressure to perform well:
A little bit. Obviously you want to do well for people you know. There is no place like home for most of us. There are a lot of guys from the metroplex area, and obviously you have a lot of people come out and see you. You don't want to go out there and lay an egg in front of all your friends and family.

On if the offensive line needs to prove itself in this game:
I think we feel like that every game. Every game starts with both lines, and you really have to go out there and set the tempo for the game. We really feel like it's our burden to do that.

On if previous games have any effect on this year's game:
No, every year is different, and one year does not have any bearing on the next. You can't get caught up in trends.

On getting a chance to watch Oklahoma and see how well their front seven are playing:
I've had a chance to see a couple of games. I didn't get a chance to see this past weekend's game yet, but obviously that's what they do best. They're very well coached. They have great athletes over there, and they're very capable.

On Oklahoma showing some different defensive schemes during the game:
Every team we play shows up with something that we have seen before, and I'm not expecting anything different this year. We've seen things so far this year that teams have never done. We're well prepared for just about anything we can expect to see. Going back to two-a-days and early practices in the year, we've seen a lot of exotic looks from our defense. Those guys over there are pretty good at what they do. We've seen just about anything you can think of.

On making adjustments with Coach McWhorter throughout the game:
Sure, obviously there's going to be something that we haven't seen or had a really good look at. Naturally sometimes we're going to have to figure it on our own. Sometimes we'll be out on the field and it will happen, but when we go to the sideline, we'll get it taken care of.

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TEXAS JUNIOR DE TIM CROWDER
On this game being more important:
Not really, this week is just another game. That's how we all look at it. We're just trying to get out there and win the game and continue our success.

On getting caught up in everything surrounding the game:
It's hard because it's a rivalry. They're our rivals and we're theirs. It's a big game, but you just have to keep your mind focused.

On it being difficult to focus on this game:
It's not really hard to focus, because it's OU. Everybody is going to be wired up tomorrow and ready to go, but we just have to be ready to go on Saturday.

On facing Rhett Bomar as compared to Brad Smith last week:
It's another challenge. He's a little different than Brad Smith because Brad is more allusive. Rhett will try to run over you. It's going to be a challenge for us out there.

On if stopping Brad Smith gives the defense more confidence going into this game:
It's gives us a lot of confidence. When we go out there, our main objective is to stop whoever is in front of us.

On if they will be prepared for Adrian Peterson:
We'll game plan for him. We're going to game plan for Kejuan Jones to be in the game too.

On the team being more confident than in years past:
I don't really know about more confident, but I think we're a pretty good team. We're ready for whoever comes in front of us.

On if the team's mindset is different going into a game as the underdog or the favorite:
Not really, everybody is coming to get us anyway. OU is going to play their best game against us. They always do. It doesn't matter what kind of season they're having. They're going to play their best because it's a rival game.

On the team being any less fired up and excited to play Oklahoma considering their slow start:
No, we have lost to them the last five years. Like I said, it's a rival game and you can always get going for game like that.

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TEXAS JUNIOR DB MICHAEL GRIFFIN
On the team being very confident going into this week's game:
I wouldn't necessarily say that. I know they're going to come out there ready to play, and we have to come out there ready to play also.

On Oklahoma's receivers:
I haven't seen them yet. Last week I had to focus on Missouri. I know they have Travis Wilson returning. He's a veteran, but they also have other great receivers, receivers that we recruited in the past. I'm pretty sure they're all good.

On Oklahoma's running game and the different ways they get the job done:
I watch out for that. They have (J.D.) Runnels, Kejuan Jones and Adrian Peterson back there. We have to be focused on their running game as well as their passing game. They also have a great quarterback.

On the team having more confidence going into this game than seasons past:
I think we're going to go into this game with the same confidence we had before. I just think we we're so hyped up with the media rather than just playing our game. We should just go out there and play our own game rather than the game everybody makes it out to be.

On this game being more important than the others:
I just see this as another game that we must play. We need to go out there and play our own game. We can't just blow it up and make it bigger than that. It's a football game. It's 11 against 11 on the football field. We can't make it OU-Texas. We have to make it a football game.

On the team playing too tight in previous game against Oklahoma:
I don't think so. If you look at it, last year the game was 3-0 going into halftime. If we had scored just one touchdown in the game, it would have been 7-6 at one point. If you look at last year, I don't think OU was down the whole season until they played against USC. I don't know how they would have reacted to being down in a game. In my opinion, if we would have been up 7-6 it could have been a different game.

On getting caught up in the trash talking surrounding the game:
I don't think a game is won by trash talking. It's won by the better team that comes out on Saturday ready to play. I don't think the game is won by any talk. Really the only person that needs to talk is the quarterback to give the snap count and say 'hut' and get ready to play. You really don't have to say anything. It's all about your athletic ability, your strength, your techniques and everything else on the field.

On if the team takes on Mack Brown's personality:
I think we do take more from Coach Brown. We try to take on the identity of our coach. Coach Brown is a great guy. He tries to help whoever needs help. He encourages us like we're his kids. He tries to parent us rather than just be a coach. He tries to be a friend, somebody you can look up to. Anything you need or anything you're having problems with, you can go to him.

On Oklahoma having a mental advantage going into Saturday's game:
No, because this is a different team. We have people on our team that haven't even played against OU before. They have people on their team that haven't played against Texas. They have a young team, red-shirt freshmen, that haven't played against Texas. They may have been to the game during recruiting, or been on the sideline, but they've never played against Texas. Some of us have never played against OU. I think I had 12 or 13 snaps against OU. I'm pretty sure this week I'll probably have more than 30, maybe 40. It's just a different team on both sides of the ball.

On the atmosphere with the Cotton Bowl and state fair being different:
The Cotton Bowl is different. Just the drive up to the stadium, you see all orange and all crimson. I think that's the only difference, but once you get on the field you don't really hear the fans and the crowd unless you focus on them. You hear what is going on on the field. The coaches, your teammates, that's all you really see and hear. If you get caught up in the fans and the drive on the buses up to the field, you get nervous. I've been down that road twice already. This is my third time. I don't think it is going to be much of a difference for me. It's just another game, and I'm going to have to be ready to go out there and play.

On being in the tunnel before the game:
It is a great moment. I'm pretty sure a lot of players on our team have teammates that play for Oklahoma. It's like you get to see your friends again. A lot of players on their team are from Texas. It's all about bragging rights. You don't want to go home and tell everybody you play for Texas and that you lost to Oklahoma. You don't want to be from Texas and play for OU and have to go home and tell everybody you lost to Texas either. It's like playing against the other neighborhood when you were growing up. After this game they have their schedule still and we have our schedule still.

On the inexperience of Rhett Bomar:
He's a young quarterback, but he has four games under his belt. He played against UCLA and started Big 12 play and did a great job. He also has veterans around him with Adrian Peterson, Travis Wilson and some returning tight ends. I think they're going to all help him out. We can't really look at him as a freshman. I think he's going to be ready to play.

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TEXAS JUNIOR CB TARREL BROWN
On his feelings going into the Red River Shootout:
We'll be fine; we'll just go out there and keep on playing hard like we have been doing. We are staying focused and getting prepared for the game. We are going to be all right.

On Oklahoma's quarterbacks:
We haven't started watching film yet, but I have seen a couple of games and have some friends that play for Oklahoma. [Rhett Bomar] is a pretty good quarterback. I played against him in high school and he was good in high school. He is going to be a challenge for us as a defense, a challenge for everybody. Paul Thompson is also a good quarterback. They have a lot of things they can do with their offense and have a lot of different weapons. We just have to go in there prepared, study our film, know the game plan and be ready to play.

On Adrian Peterson running outside:
A lot of the film we have watched of him was a lot of him running up the middle. We saw him and we knew that he had a lot of speed. They run a lot of different plays, different than we have seen in practice. He is a good player. Regardless of stats or the rankings right now, all of that is going to be thrown out the window. We are going to have to go out there and play.

On the talk of Texas' five consecutive losses to OU:
People are always going to bring that up. I don't like to read newspapers or magazines or anything like that. I like to focus on what is in front of us right now and work on our goals for this year. It's not hard [to focus]. Any competitor can get ready for any game. If both teams were 0-3, it is still going to be a competitive game because you are going to throw the stats and the records away. This is for bragging rights right now.

On bragging rights:
[Oklahoma] has had the bragging rights for the past five years and we have ended up on the short end of the stick. Hopefully things will change.

On the role of confidence in a win against Oklahoma:
We have always had that confidence, but we have always ended up on the short end. We have always been prepared and ready to go into the game. Things just haven't gone our way.

On his individual improvements:
My biggest improvement is probably the mental game. In high school and early in my career, I just felt like I could go out there and be a better athlete than everybody else. But our coaches have guided me along with the mental game and learning different concepts and aspects of the game.

On his comfort playing a zone defense:
I feel a lot more comfortable. I never knew how to play a zone when I was in high school or my freshman year here. Being able to change it up and do different things can only help you in the long run.

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TEXAS SENIOR OG WILL ALLEN
On the offense making a statement in the OU game:
I think everybody, not just as an offensive line but the team as a whole, is tired of having this chip on our shoulders. We are ready to push through it and I think we have the talent to do it. We have already played a tough opponent at Ohio State, in a tough environment, and I think that experience gives us a lot of edge. We are really excited about the outlook of this game.

On the intensity of the match up, despite team records: [Records] don't change it one bit. Watching film on them, I think they have got one of the best defensive fronts we will face all year, if not the best. Dusty Dvoracek and their linebackers are extremely fast. We played a good linebacking crew at Ohio State. This one is similar, and possibly has better defensive lineman. We expect that. Their record does not show what the defensive front has played like. They have had a few injuries, with some bumps and bruises on some guys. Now after watching their film from Kansas State, they look really good.

On Coach McWhorter's contribution to the offensive line:
I think it's more of an attitude thing. Along with [Kasey] Studdard being there, and Studdard's a big time leader for us, you can kind of feel off of him a little. It is the same with Coach McWhorter. They just kind of have this aggression built into their personalities. You get a feeling where you want to come off and hit somebody every play. As a fan, or sitting on the sidelines, practices seem more physical [with Coach McWhorter]. When we had Big Mike [Williams], and Antwan [Kirk-Hughes] and those guys, they were a really good, solid offensive line. But I feel like we have good cohesion and a good, physical group of guys here now. We feel like we can really take over a game at any point.

On Jamaal Charles:
I am not really surprised with his ability because when he came in this summer, I was really impressed with his speed. He outran almost everybody during our workouts. To see that, you have some high expectations of him. He has come in and really exceeded everybody's expectations. The fact that he has been able to get better and consistently put out the numbers that he has is really impressive. Coming in as a freshman and being able to learn the offense was great. I don't think he would have been able to do that without Coach [Ken] Rucker and the other running backs who have helped him along. It is impressive that he has gotten to where he is right now, but if you look at his ability, I think he has got a lot of room to grow.

On talk about the past:
I don't know what the problem has been in the past. All we can do is go out this week and have a good week of practice, focus, watch film and learn as much on our opponent as we can. We, as the offensive line, feel like we have the ability to take over a game and put it on our shoulders. We've got a good corps of guys and some backup guys with a lot of depth there. I think that rather than looking back on the past, we are excited about this one.

On Oklahoma's highly ranked rush defense:
It is not so much that [Oklahoma] are number three against the run so much as it is a challenge for the offensive line. This is a game we feel like we have the capability of putting on our backs and that's what we want. We want the responsibility. Last week we came off to the sideline and said, 'Hey Coach, we understand we have gotten in a bad situation with some bad penalties, but we feel like we can run the ball every snap of this game.' Whenever we had a running situation, we felt like we produced.

On Dusty Dvoracek:
All around, he is just a great player. He plays with extreme willpower, extremely physical and he always penetrates the line. You look at him on film and he's always a yard or two in the backfield. He just disrupts everybody. So we have to do a good job of staying low on him, scheming a little bit and trying to double team him. Hopefully, we can take care of that.

On Vince Young's leadership:
As a whole, I think he has become more of a leader. He feels the same way the offensive line does. He feels like he can put the team on his shoulders and carry us wherever we need to go. Looking at that, it gives the team a lot of confidence to know that you have players that not only feel like they can do it, but they can. You look at guys like Ramonce Taylor, who can catch a ball one-handed, two yards deep in the backfield and then take it 40 yards down the sideline and outrun everybody. When you have those types of playmakers, the confidence level just grows and grows and grows.

On the season so far:
We take a lot of pride in what we have done. But we look at film every single week and see what we can improve on. You look at Jamaal (Charles), and he is making one of two guys miss on every single play. Sometimes it's a free safety who is two lines past the line of scrimmage and sometimes it is a linebacker we are missing. If we can get him to the free safety every single play, it is going to be unbelievable to see what this kid can do. The fact that he is making somebody miss every time is something that very few running backs throughout the college football could do. If we keep providing him with lanes, he is just going to run wild.

On his feelings going into this weekend:
I feel like we have a lot of talent and I feel like the coaching staff is doing a great job. As a whole, the camaraderie throughout the team and the team in general is the best we have had so far.

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TEXAS SOPHOMORE DT FRANK OKAM
On being recruited by Oklahoma:
I thought about [going to OU], but I kind of knew I already wanted to come to Texas. It was not that much of a question.

On playing Oklahoma in his hometown of Dallas:
It is great to be able to come back home and play with familiar faces and a familiar crowd. Just the whole atmosphere and the whole city of Dallas is a great game for me. This is a special time for me, because I am only going to be able to experience this four times in my life. To have the game at a neutral sight where you have a split crowd and everything is divided is exciting. With people yelling at the busses and getting excited as we're coming in, it doesn't really get much better than that.

On trying to record the first win in five years:
I think as a younger player on the team, I always feel responsible for your senior class because you don't want to let them down. When I look back, I just want to play hard for my team and hard for them because it gives me such a sense of pride.

On being judged on the outcome of the Red River Rivalry:
I think Texas is judged by how they play everybody. I don't think you can say we are judged based on this one game, solely, because if that were the case, you would say last year was a bust. And it wasn't. We made it all the way to the Rose Bowl and did well there.

I am from the area and I obviously want to do well when I go back there. Each year, each team is different. We present different challenges and different match-ups. If you look at the past to figure out what you are going to do, that is not the team goal. We are trying to focus on this year and this year's team and take care of business.

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TEXAS SENIOR LB AARON HARRIS
On preparations for Oklahoma:
We are just different. We are still going to do what we need to do every day in practice. It is not going to change, because [Oklahoma] is not going to lay down for us. They are probably going to play harder than they normally would. We are going to do everything in our preparation to win the ballgame.

On team bonds:
We have been through some things together. We have a nucleus of guys that really understand each other and we really want to play the best we can for each other.

On the outlook of Oklahoma:
They lost a lot of guys on the receiving corps this year. But they still have good players. It's not like they are not Oklahoma anymore. We just have to do what we have to do, and just stop them as well as we can.

On Adrian Peterson and the running backs:
He is just exceptionally good, I guess you can say. Whether or not he plays, the running backs are still our main focus. I am going to hit him like I always hit the other team.

On J.D. Runnels:
He is good. He is a good blocker. I don't think he gets too many touches, but he is a good player.

On what is going to be different this year:
I can't speak for everybody on the team. But speaking for myself and my experiences, I will play this game the same.

On his last chance to get a win against Oklahoma:
As seniors, we are 35-1 against every other team in the Big 12. That is the team that we haven't beaten, so I would like to beat them. If you do lose to one team more than one or two times, people say, 'Why can't you beat that one team?' But I think we can.

On the environment in the Cotton Bowl:
I think it affects different guys in different ways. With me, it gives me a little more of a hyped feeling for the game. Coming in on the bus, you see people throwing the horns down. Personally, that excites me and kind of gets me going before the game.

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TEXAS SENIOR WR BRIAN CARTER
On how the offense is playing coming into this game:
Our offense is really meshing real well. Our O-line is very experienced. We feel like our offense is very capable of coming in and producing the way we need to this game.

On the losing streak to Oklahoma and how it affects the team:
A lot of guys weren't here for the first part of that. That's something that's in the past. We're more concerned about what we can do now and control the future. You can't really worry about the past. It doesn't really bother me too much. I don't know, it may bother other guys, but we're just prepared to go to work this week and do what we have to win.

On the losses to Oklahoma being difficult for the team to handle:
This is my fifth game. Anytime you lose a game it's going to be tough. It's just something that you're going to have to bounce back from. We've done good in the past with that. I don't really pay too much attention to the media anyway, so for me it's just another game. Definitely as far as the media goes there is a lot of hype surrounding this game because we're rivals and what not. As far I look at it, it's just another game and we just have to go out and execute, and we can be successful.

On how Vince Young has matured since last year's Oklahoma game:
He's always been the same guy. Just now he has more control of the offense. He understands the plays. He is making better reads. His throws are crisper. He's playing at such a high level that he's definitely going to help us be successful in this game.

On if Oklahoma gets him extra excited:
Nothing really is going to get me angry. When game day comes your blood is definitely going to be going. This is going to be a big game, so the atmosphere is going to add to that. Just like at Ohio State, you're going to get out there in front of all those people booing your team. That's going to get your blood flowing. I anticipate the same this weekend. When we get out there in warm-ups and get in that atmosphere, that's definitely going to get you ready to go.

On if the team is better heading into this years match-up with the Sooners:
We had a very talented team last year. It'd be hard for me to compare if we're better or more prepared. I definitely feel like this year we're playing at a high level in all phases of the game. I'm really confident in my teammates' ability to come out and perform well in this game.

- Quotes courtesy Texas Athletics Media Relations

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